As Boulder velodrome closes, Erie becomes heart of track cycling

250-meter outdoor track scheduled to open this summer

ERIE -- As Boulder Indoor Cycling's velodrome met its demise this week, a bigger cycling track continued its slow rise from a patch of ground 12 miles to the east.

Workers at the site of the Boulder Valley Velodrome, a 250-meter outdoor track under construction in Erie, poured concrete Thursday in the shape of a giant oval. And already, the attention of the track cycling community -- both amateur and professional -- has shifted away from Boulder to the intersection of County Line Road and Bonnell Avenue.

"There couldn't be a better time," said Cari Higgins, a professional track cyclist from Boulder who is on the long list to compete at the London Olympics this summer. "There's a lot of momentum for track cycling in the area."

Boulder Valley Velodrome co-owner Frank Banta hands a shovel to John Carroll, right, as the crew pours a concrete foundation for the new 250-meter outdoor track on County Line Road in Erie on Thursday.
(
Jeremy Papasso
)

But there aren't a lot of places around to practice the sport. With Monday's announced closure of Boulder Indoor Cycling at 3550 Frontier Ave. in Boulder, the state's only operational velodrome now is in Colorado Springs. The next closest facility is about 1,000 miles away, said Colby Pearce, a cycling coach in Boulder and a 2004 Olympic track cycling competitor.

"We're in a kind of velodrome wasteland," Pearce said. "Boulder Valley Velodrome is not just going to draw people locally, it will attract national and international racers."

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Ingrid Alongi, a masters elite-level track cyclist who has won three national masters titles in the sport, said while she loved riding and coaching on the 142-meter track at Boulder Indoor Cycling, it was simply too small and narrow to provide an authentic experience. Boulder Valley Velodrome meets the international standard length of 250 meters, with 11- to 12-degree inclines on the straightaways and 40- to 41-degree banking on the corners.

"You can actually have real racing on a track that size," Alongi said. "I think Boulder Valley Velodrome will be awesome."

Starts with club focus

But first the local cycling community must wait until the new facility in Erie is completed, which will likely take until summer.

University Bicycles founder Doug Emerson and partner Frank Banta broke ground on the project in Erie last year.

Emerson said their venture will have 10 cycling clubs, with around 30 members each, signed up by opening day. Boulder Valley Velodrome has also been amassing an array of founding members, each of whom pony up $5,000 for membership.

"As excited as we are and the cycling community is, this is going to happen slowly," Emerson said, as construction equipment moved around the 4.2-acre site Thursday.

He said operations would begin this year with club riding only and gradually move toward offering lessons and training for beginners and novices not already familiar with the sport, which uses brakeless, fixed-gear bicycles to navigate the harrowing angles and curves of a velodrome track.

Both men said they took no joy from the closure of Boulder Indoor Cycling's velodrome, which was open for four years. They credited the facility with raising awareness around the fairly arcane sport of track cycling and giving their own venture a better chance of success.

"It was so much more fun than slogging through a workout at home," said Emerson, who rented out blocks of time at the Boulder velodrome for his bike shop employees to use. "It's too bad."

Calls made to Boulder Indoor Cycling on Thursday were not returned.

Track length, design instrumental

Few in the cycling community feel that the Boulder Valley Velodrome might face the same fate as its indoor counterpart to the west.

First, there's the track's 250-meter length, a rarity for velodromes in the country. Pearce, the Boulder cycling coach, said Boulder Indoor Cycling's shorter length was limiting in terms of training for races at an internationally competitive level.

"While it was a great resource to the local community, it wasn't ultimately as useful or versatile as a 250-meter track would be," he said.

Pearce also cited Colorado's high elevation as an advantage for Boulder Valley Velodrome, which could be one of the fastest tracks in the country and offer professional cyclists an ideal training environment. He also said the facility's appeal will only be enhanced by the fact that global velodrome designer Peter Junek is behind the project.

Also, Higgins said Boulder Valley Velodrome may gain and retain ridership by virtue of being an outdoor track. That's particularly true during warm winters, like the most recent one, which Higgins said might have played a critical role in the collapse of Boulder Indoor Cycling.

"People here love to be outdoors, and when it's sunny outside, everybody wants to be outside," she said.

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